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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23850055">Emerald Eye and the Foolish Prince</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Rose3/pseuds/Dragon_Rose3'>Dragon_Rose3</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fairy Tales &amp; Related Fandoms, Original Work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Fairy Tale Elements, Princes &amp; Princesses, Witches</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-04-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 20:55:12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Not Rated</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>4,223</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23850055</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dragon_Rose3/pseuds/Dragon_Rose3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>“I have come to ask the location of the most beautiful woman in the world. I plan to woo her and make her my bride.” The Foolish Prince said in the most regal voice he could muster, which was much more of a whine than a proclamation.</p><p>Emerald Eye laughed in his face. “Why should I tell you that? Why do you think you deserve to even look upon her beauty, much less court her?”<br/>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - </p><p>In which a foolish prince must prove his worth in order to find his bride.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Male Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>6</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Emerald Eye and the Foolish Prince</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Once, long, long, ago there was a prince. While the prince was very handsome, he was not very smart and thought he always knew better than people who actually did. Because of this all the servants in the castle called him the Foolish Prince behind his back. One day he overheard two servants call him this name and he got very mad.</p><p>“I am not foolish,” he thought as he stamped his foot in anger. “I will go and marry the most beautiful woman in the world! That will prove them wrong!”</p><p>So he set off to find his future bride. But where was the most beautiful maiden? Many of the ladies at court had been pretty, but surely they did not compare to his future wife. Where would he even start looking? He decided to go find the great Emerald Eye, who saw everything and lived in the very deep forest past three rushing rivers. Once he had marched through the forest and crossed all the rivers he was tired from stumbling over the unused trail and drenched from falling into each of the three rivers. His stomach growled so loud that it scared away several beasts who had thought to eat him. Then he reached a small cottage in the middle of a clearing surrounded by a lush garden filled with strange plants he did not recognize.</p><p>“Emerald Eye!” He called, trying to stand tall and valiant, but failing because his legs kept curling in on themselves out of pain. “Come out! For I have questions for you!” </p><p>“What questions would those be exactly?” came a voice from behind him. The Foolish Prince jumped and spun quickly, almost falling in his fear. Before him stood a woman. She was taller than any woman he knew and even most men, and he had to lift his chin upward to see her head. Her hair was pure black and grew around her head like a bush, thick enough to trap actual twigs and leaves. On closer inspection, that could also have been the large bundle of leafy branches she carried on her back. She looked down on the prince coldly with one steely blue eye, and one green eye that shined even in the shade of the tall trees surrounding them, as it was made from pure emeralds.</p><p>“I have come to ask the location of the most beautiful woman in the world. I plan to woo her and make her my bride.” The Foolish Prince said in the most regal voice he could muster, which was much more of a whine than a proclamation. His thirst, hunger, and tiredness only made it worse.</p><p>Emerald Eye laughed in his face. “Why should I tell you that? Why do you think you deserve to even look upon her beauty, much less court her?”</p><p>The Foolish Prince huffed indignantly. No one had ever insulted him in such a way! “I am a prince! Known as the most handsome man in my kingdom! Of course she will want to marry me!”</p><p>“All the people who court her are princes or kings, dukes and counts, merchants richer than several kings combined,” Emerald Eye responded, leaving no room for argument. Her blue eye examined his face. “As for your looks, while you are not plain, I have seen better. If you think yourself to be so worthy of her hand, you must prove it.”</p><p>The Foolish Prince stamped his foot. This woman was insulting him again! He would have to prove her wrong. “Then tell me what I must do to prove it!” he snapped.</p><p>Emerald Eye simply raised her eyebrow at the outburst and went to set down her load of wood. “If you want to marry the most beautiful woman in the world, you must give her a gift to match that beauty. As you are now, however, you are completely useless.” The Prince’s jaw dropped, but Emerald Eye did not notice. “You have no skills to speak of, and your birthright will not get you as much as you think it will if it is the only thing you use.”</p><p>The Prince sputtered indignantly. “I am an amazing swordsman, and the best dancer in my kingdom!”</p><p>“Dancing will not fill your belly,” she replied dryly. “As for your sword, you have only fought in contest, haven't you?” She looked over her shoulder to see the Prince nodding. She sighed. “I thought so.<br/>
Go, learn a trade. Bring me back proof you have mastered it and I may tell you where to find the princess.”</p><p>The Prince ground his teeth in frustration. She didn’t think he could do that! His hand gripped his sword so tightly it shook with want to put the witch in her place, but he had no power over her. She was not one of his subjects, and if he did hurt her she would never tell him where to find his bride. His determination strengthened tenfold as he stared at the back of the woman who thought so little of him.</p><p>“Very well,” he said curtly, trying not to let his anger show. “I will set out tomorrow, after breakfast.” </p><p>Emerald Eye turned to him warily. “You are not staying in my house, Prince,” she said as he gaped at her. “I have no reason to feed or house someone as rude as you, who expects so much without even giving a common courtesy back. If you are still here when the moon rises, then you will be thrown out from here very painfully, probably right into some beasts mouth. All I will give you is this advice. Choose your trade wisely, for the more trades you try and give up on, the longer it will take to master.”</p><p>The prince grumbled, and went off back through the forest falling into the three rivers again, and found a town about a week away. There he found a blacksmith who made swords and was willing to take him as an apprentice. But the tools were heavy and the fires marred his hands. After a month he left. Another town over he found a baker who hired him. But all the flout made him sneeze and the early hours did not suit him. After two months he left. Two towns over, he found a tailor who took him in. His eyes ached and the needle pricked his fingers, but he kept on working.</p><p>A year and a half passed. He returned to the cabin with a beautiful shawl the color of a midday summer sky, embroidered with roses so lifelike you could practically smell them.<br/>
The trek was a bit easier this time. The Prince could stand up at the end, for one thing. He had also brought more food with him, so his stomach didn’t growl nearly as loud as before. However, this meant he had to fight some beasts of the forest, leaving him just as exhausted and hungry as before. And he was still wet from falling into two of the rivers, though he had kept the shawl dry.</p><p>“Well, it looks like you can earn money now. Good.” Emerald Eye nodded, placing a bulb into the hole she had just dug. ”But even if you have money, you can still starve. Cook me a meal, good and proper, to fill my stomach.”</p><p>“I will not cook you a meal, for I am a prince and I do not have to cook! I have servants for that. Even among commoners, the wife makes the meal, not the man.” The Prince sneered at this request, even while with the tailor the wife had made all the food.</p><p>“And if she gets sick?” Emerald Eye countered, raising an eyebrow. “If she was wounded in a coup, laying in bed and asking for some soup, will you be able to fulfill that simple request? No.” Her trowel stabbed the earth in emphasis and brought more dirt up. “Food is essential to life and the quality of life, so food is what you will get for me.”</p><p>“You have lied to me, Emerald Eye.” He glared at her with all the pain he had experienced over the past year, all the pinpricks and sore backs and humiliation, yet it did not phase her. “I have brought you this shawl and you have not told me anything. How many of these tasks must I do before I am married?”</p><p>“As many as I give you.” Emerald Eye glared at him with steel in her voice. The Prince sighed in defeat. He was the one asking for her help, the one who kept on coming back. He was at her mercy.</p><p>“Don’t despair so much.” The Foolish Prince looked at Emerald Eye, surprised at the kindness he heard in her voice. “You have already proven that you are skilled with your hands and are dedicated to the task. Many have set out to fulfill the first task and never came back. If you learn how to cook as fast and well as you have learned to weave and sew, you should be back quite soon.” She nodded knowingly, and then tipped her head, considering. “You do make a point, however. As payment for this shawl, I shall give you some food and supplies to help you along the way.” </p><p>So the Prince set off again to fulfill Emerald Eye’s request. He spent two years trying to cook. He burned his hands on pots, cut his fingers on knives, and retched many times when his food was inedible. Still, he tried again and again -- and he learned. When he had finally made a dish that was as good as what he had eaten at the castle, he packed up his ingredients, bought some wine, and headed towards the forest. This time he knew what berries and roots he could eat so his stomach didn’t rumble at all. He cooked all the beasts that tried to attack him, so he arrived at the cottage with a full belly, though his legs were still soaked from the last river.</p><p>“I see you have arrived, Prince,” said Emerald Eye as she trimmed a bush filled to the brim with berries the size of her hand. “But I do not see a good meal. Did you fail to make one?”</p><p>“Of course not, Emerald Eye,” the Prince replied proudly. ”But the best dishes are made from fresh ingredients and piping hot. May I borrow some vegetables from your garden and your hearth to make your meal?” He gestured to the garden surrounding them.</p><p>Emerald Eye studied him for a moment. “Very well,” she nodded. “Since you asked properly you may indeed use my hearth and my garden. However, you must only pick the vegetables you know of and will use for the dish, nothing else. If you have questions, make sure you ask me.”</p><p>“I would not dream of picking anything I don’t know,” The prince looked around the garden. While there were a few plants that he now knew of, there were also very strange ones he did not, ones that grew in the colors of the rainbow, and one bush at the far edge of the clearing that he could swear had feathers on it. “I wouldn’t know how to cook them anyhow. They might taste terrible.” </p><p>Emerald Eye grinned as she watched him gather the plants. “ I see you have learned more than just cooking, Prince. That is good to know.”</p><p>The Prince cooked a meal worthy of any king in the witches hearth that night. They ate and drank and talked till the wee hours of the morning. Then the Prince slept on a blanket near the fire.<br/>
In the morning, the Prince asked Emerald Eye one more time where he could find the most beautiful woman in the world.</p><p>“Before that, there is one last task you need to do. I will not tell you where the woman you want resides, but you will need to cross several seas to find her. Build a boat, dear prince: one faster than the wind which moves it, one that will not sink no matter how fierce the storm. Then I will tell you where to sail to.”</p><p>The Prince nodded his head in resolutely and set off in the direction she pointed him towards, to find a carpenter to teach him. After three years of planning, sawing, nailing, and sinking the boats he had made, the Prince had finally created a boat that flew along the waves and outran the sun itself, one which even the greatest storm could not sink. Pleased, he set back towards the forest. This time, the beasts proved no difficulty for him, nor did the rivers. He reached the clearing strong and dry, with a full stomach. When he arrived, Emerald Eye was sweeping the porch. As he got closer, he saw she wasn’t so much as sweeping as slowly swaying in place.</p><p>“Greetings, Emerald Eye!” he shouted as he walked through the garden. “I have built the boat, though I don't know how to prove it to you. Are you okay?” he asked when she didn't respond as usual, reaching out to clasp her shoulder.</p><p>Emerald Eye had stopped sweeping when he spoke, but her hands still clutched the broom. Her hair was in disarray, hanging round her head like dead vines, hiding half of her face. She was silent as she stared at him, her blue eye lifeless, all the confidence and grace she held herself with before, gone.</p><p>“Oh. Dear Prince. You’re back.” Her voice flat and dead, the Prince looked at her worriedly. He had only heard a voice like that once, from a man who had seen his village and family burn down in a bandit attack. It did not suit her at all.</p><p>“What is wrong Emerald Eye? What happened?” The prince pleaded, needing to know what had happened to make her look at him with nothing, not even contempt or disgust in her eye.</p><p>“My, my eye. My emerald eye. My eye was stolen when I went to collect wood,” she choked out in a sob, hands gripping the broom even tighter, before taking a breath and continuing on, focusing only on the words as she spoke them and nothing else. “Without it, I cannot see where the woman you seek is. But I will tell you where I saw her last. She lives in a gol-” </p><p>“Emerald Eye.” The Prince grabbed her other shoulder, looking straight at her, speaking over her with fierce determination. ”Do not tell me where the girl is yet. Instead, tell me where I can find the wretches that stole your eye, so that I may get it back for you.”</p><p>Emerald Eye stared at him for what seemed like hours, before finally speaking in a voice between a whisper and a sob. “Two witches took it. One has an iron tongue that sits heavy in her mouth. The other has copper hair, half rusted away. They live in the shadow of the third mountain past the edge of the forest. Please!” she begged tears welling in her eye. “Get it back.”</p><p>“I will,” he assured her. “I will.”</p><p>He set off for the mountain the next day. It took him three days to reach the third tallest mountain, and another two to climb up to the cave that sat right under the snowline. Creeping inside, he saw the two witches at the far end of the cave whispering to each other.</p><p>One had hair that stuck out of her head at all angles, twisted and turned into coils and wires. He could barely tell it was copper anyhow with how dull and rusted it was. Whenever she shook her head, the metal screeched and made him clench his teeth in pain. The other one was less noticeable. Her hair was salt and mostly pepper. Her face was wrinkled, with the biggest jowls he had ever seen; he assumed that she had the iron tongue. They were both looking at something in the hands of the iron-tongued witch, who occasionally rubbed it against her skirt. After thinking for a bit, he sheathed his sword, stood up, and spoke in his most regal voice, which had become much stronger over the years. </p><p>”Hello? Is anyone in here? I am searching for the witch of copper hair, and the witch of iron tongue.”</p><p>The two witches jumped and turned to face him, hiding the eye in a pocket. </p><p>“A prince,” the copper-haired witch screeched in a voice just as sharp and grating as her hair. The Prince tried not to grimace and continued smiling at them pleasantly. “What is a prince doing all the way up here, eh? Only fools come to visit us.”</p><p>The Prince’s hand twitched towards his sword at that remark, but his face was as serene as the castle pond. He responded with as much false sincerity as he could muster, which was quite a lot.</p><p>“I went to Emerald Eye to ask her a question, but she appears to be useless now. She told me that you could answer my question instead. I will gladly pay whatever you ask for it.” The Prince gave the witches his most charming and innocent smile and stepped into the cave.</p><p>“Why of course dear prince!”  Copper Hair crooned “We would be very happy too.“ The Prince could see the predatory glint in her eye. She moved towards him, her hair scraping the walls and floor of the cave with a horrid screeching sound. The other witch grinned; he could see flashes of iron between her teeth. Both of their eyes watched him like cats watched a fat mouse.</p><p>“Oh good!” he said with fake cheeriness, putting on a smile that brimmed with good-natured stupidity naivety. “Which of you has the all-seeing eye?”</p><p>“I do!” Copper Hair stepped forward proudly. The iron tongued witch glared at her and clutched the eye in her hands closer to her chest.</p><p>“Oh, but that can’t be so!” the Prince practically giggled. “Both of your eyes are black! Not green like emeralds.”</p><p>Copper Hair sneered, drawing herself up so high that her hair scraped the ceiling. “Just because my eyes are black doesn't mean I don’t have the eye.” The witch behind her seemed to growl at that statement, it sounded like a cauldron rattling. “I can answer any question you ask, Prince. All it will cost is your crown.”</p><p>“But doesn't she have the eye?” The Prince gestured to the witch behind her, who was scowling so fiercely that there was not a smooth patch of skin anywhere on her face. “If she has the eye, then you can’t see it, can you? Besides, you don’t see into eyes, you can only see out of them. One of you has to replace their eye with it in order to work.”</p><p>With this remark, he saw the anger and selfishness of both witches burn to life inside their eyes. For it was true that for as long as they had polished and stared into the eye, they had seen nothing except their own hideous forms reflected back at them. Though it had taken both of them to steal the eye, only one could actually have it, and the Prince’s promise of payment was the final thing needed to set them off.</p><p>Copper Hair threw herself at Iron Tongue and tried to pry the eye out from her fingers, but iron tongue would not have it. She opened her mouth, and her jaw, weighed down by her heavy tongue, went all the way to her waist, she garbled a curse at copper hair, who deflected it with her own. And so the battle went on. The Prince was forgotten in all of this, and had run back to the entrance to avoid all the spells being flung and bounced off the two magical hags. He waited outside the cave for a full day before he heard a metallic voice call out:</p><p> “prince? prince? I have the eye for you. Come, ask me your question.” </p><p>He did not know the cave as he entered it, so scorched and twisted were the walls, so bloody and mangled was the witch smiling at him from a pile of rock in the center of the cave, a pile of rocks quite different from the rest. A polished chunk of iron lay at her foot, which she kicked out of the way. The Copper Hair grinned at him, teeth bloody, bones broken. Most of her hair had snapped off or melted into globs, hanging behind her head like a decaying metal beehive. But she held the eye in one hand, triumph in her eyes. </p><p>“I see you do have the eye!” The Prince exclaimed with false enthusiasm. “But you also still have two black eyes in your head. I don’t think a person can see out of three eyes at once.”</p><p>“True enough, prince,”  Copper Hair said sullenly. “Yet I have no knife and all my magic has been used. If you want your answer, you will have to cut my eyeball from of my head and put the emerald one in. And don’t forget prince.” Her voice changed into what he thought was supposed to be sultry “you promised me your crown.”</p><p>“Oh. That seems like a very unsafe thing to do,” the Prince murmured in seeming disgust, already walking towards the witch. He sighed, “But if that is what must be done, then so be it.” </p><p>He stepped up to the pile of rocks, brought out his sword, looked the witch right in the eye as she grinned at him, already imagining what powers she would hold. He swung down his sword, and cut off the rest of her hair in one swoop, the sound clanging off the walls of the cave, banging in his ears. The witch wailed in agony, clutching at the place that used to make her special, make her magical, but it was gone. Quickly the Prince grabbed the eye where it had fallen and ran out of the cave. He ran for five days straight back to the clearing, clutching the eye close to his chest.</p><p>When he returned to the cottage, he found Emerald Eye slowly sweeping the other side of her porch. She was wearing the shawl he had made for her, though most of it was hidden by her hair, which was still hanging loose.</p><p>“Emerald Eye!” he called. “Stop sweeping and rejoice! I have returned with your namesake!” </p><p>Emerald Eye turned to him and when she saw the prince holding the jeweled eye above his head she cried tears of pure joy. Once her eye was back where it should be, she took a deep breath, wiped her eyes, straightened her back, and turned to face the Prince once again full of grace and confidence. </p><p>“Thank you, dear Prince, for retrieving my eye. “She gazed at him with kindness” Since you have completed all the tasks, I will tell you where the most beautiful woman in the world resides. Her father was afraid that someone unworthy would steal her away, so he built her a golden castle out of sunbeams on the highest cloud in the sky and put her there. The castle travels with the winds, but you are in luck. In two weeks’ time, the winds will blow the castle past the highest mountain, where you can reach it. Even that will not be enough, though. Go to the edge of my garden and pick a silver feather from the tree. Once you are in the castle you must throw the feather into the tailwind and it will turn into a bird that will carry you both to the ground. I wish you luck.” Emerald Eye nodded solemnly as she finished speaking, and started to turn away.</p><p>“Emerald Eye, Please wait.” The Prince reached out and touched her shoulder. “I no longer want that woman for my wife.” Emerald Eye turned towards him, blinking in surprise. “Instead, I want to marry a woman who may not be beautiful to the world, but is to me. A woman who saw a foolish prince and made him grow up.” He sank to one knee and took a deep breath. “I would like you, Emerald Eye, to be my wife.”</p><p>Emerald Eye gaped at him for several seconds, body frozen in confusion, before smiling and crouching down in front of the Prince.  </p><p>“You used to be a fool, all those years ago. You are no longer one. You’ve learned how to cook, how to provide, how to build, and most of all how to be respectful, all in the name of a woman you didn’t even know. I would be honored, dear Prince, to see what you continue to do for me.” She took his hand in acceptance.</p><p>They went back to the prince’s kingdom, which rejoiced in not only having their prince back but seeing how he had changed. They got married at the year's end, and for their honeymoon, they sailed around the world on the boat the Prince had built. They ruled their kingdom fairly and were known for many years as the Wise King and the Emerald Queen.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>After binge-watching Hungarian folktales for the past week, I decided to try to create a fairy tale of my own. I'm actually kinda impressed with how it turned out!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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